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Centrica looks to ditch telecoms arm in strategy u-turn

CENTRICA, the £9.6 billion utility, is considering the sale of OneTel, its telecoms arm, after receiving several approaches from potential buyers.

A disposal would mark another strategic retreat by the company back to its core British Gas business.

The company sold AA, its motoring-services arm, to a private-equity consortium last year. In doing so it effectively abandoned its ambition of turning itself into a multi-utility. But so far Sir Roy Gardner, Centrica’s chief executive and his chairman Roger Carr, have resisted selling OneTel. This business, which is worth several hundred million pounds, supplies fixed-line and mobile telephone services to 1m customers. Last year it contributed £16m of operating profits on sales of £218m.

On Friday Centrica issued a profit downgrade ahead of announcing its half-year results. The gas and electricity supplier said it had been hit by spiralling energy prices in global markets. To counter this, it said British Gas